In 1911, one man launched an ambitious project to photograph humanity before modernization changed it forever

Left: autochrome of the actress Matsumoto Tome dressed as a geisha in Kyoto, Japan, 1912; right: autochrome of a condemned man, perhaps a soldier, punished by cangue in Urga (Ulaanbaatar), Mongolia, 1913 Left: autochrome of the actress Matsumoto Tome dressed as a geisha in Kyoto, Japan, 1912; right: autochrome of a condemned man, perhaps a soldier, punished by cangue in Urga (Ulaanbaatar), Mongolia, 1913

In 1911, French banker Albert Kahn launched an ambitious project to document humanity before modernization changed it forever. His Archives de la Planète would grow to include over 72,000 autochrome photographs and 100 hours of film footage, as Grace Linden explores in her essay for The Public Domain Review.

Autochromes, invented by the Lumière brothers in 1903, were the first commercially successful color photography process. The technology used glass plates covered in dyed potato starch grains that acted as color filters. As Linden explains, "To create an autochrome, a unique, glass plate negative — covered in grains of potato starch dyed red, green, and blue — would be inserted into the camera so that light could pass through the colored coating." Unlike modern photographs, autochromes had to be viewed with light shining through them from behind.

The process had significant limitations. The equipment was bulky, the glass plates were fragile, and long exposure times meant subjects had to remain completely still. As Linden notes, "Many of the Archive's autochromes, therefore, were taken of buildings, monuments, and geographical features. When people appear, they are often posed."

Yet these technical constraints created something unique. The colors in autochromes have a distinctive quality — more intense blues, brighter reds, and more subdued faded tones than reality. Linden points to examples like "piles of yellow watermelons glow[ing] electric" in a Corfu market, while other scenes appear muted, like sun-bleached trees in Afghanistan.

Kahn's mission was informed by his own experience of displacement. As a Jewish immigrant who fled German annexation of Alsace, he understood how quickly cultural traditions could disappear. "Unable to stop time's relentless advance," writes Linden, "he did the only thing he thought possible to save this inheritance: record on film the world as it was."

Jotunheim, Norway The church (Freely reusable (CC-00) – Public Domain)

Previously:
• Films, books and artwork entering the public domain in 2025
• Mickey Mouse's red shorts have entered the public domain